Gamification

What can learning guitar teach us about gamification?

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Fourth Chord2D What can learning guitar teach us about gamification

I have been playing guitar since I was 16. As I approach my 40th birthday, I have had the opportunity to reflect on a lot of things. Mostly things that are deeper than this, but it popped into my mind, so I gave it time!

When I started playing guitar, I learned three chords. G, C and A. I had a little acoustic guitar that my Mum bought me in a car boot sale for £6. She told me that if I could learn to play a song and play it well, she would consider going halves on an electric guitar with me.  I went Read More ...

A New Year for Gamification

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As we usher in a New Year, I wanted to make a few New Year wishes for gamification in 2018.

The industry finally matures and stops acting like a petulant teenager!
  • 2017 saw a lot of advances in gamification, but the industry still has a way to go. Misogyny, pettiness, immature attitudes towards research and evidence are just some of the problems we still face.
  • And don’t get me started on the concept of 1-week courses producing gurus and specialists!
We stop using words like “addictive” and “addicting” (goes for the games industry as well)

  • We do not want to create addictive products. Engaging, yes. Compelling, yes, but not addictive. Addiction is very bad, yet I keep hearing people talk about creating “Addictive products” or “Addictive experiences” and seeing it in product descriptions and platform description. Again, addiction is bad, we don’t want it! If you can’t make a product that is engaging without relying on behaviour loops that create addiction, you need to get out of the industry.
    • Read More ...

    HR Gamification Day 2017 – Slides

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    Busy Busy Busy!

    This week I presented an introduction to gamification and play talk at the HR Gamification Day in Madrid. It was a fabulous event, with some amazing speakers. The venue was also just incredible! A big thanks to The Key Talent for the invite. it was fun meeting up with friends old and new.

    I am also speaking at Gamification Europe next week, all about failure… If you don’t have a ticket yet, go and get one now 🙂

    That does mean less time to write anything good for you lovely people. Instead here are my slides from this week and I will post my slides for next week as soon as I have made them… Read More ...

    Ethics in Gamification

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    I was recently asked to write an article on the ethics of gamification for the ACM’s student publication XRDS. Here it is! It should  download a PDF. I would love to hear your thoughts 🙂

    The ethics of gamification

    Andrzej Marczewski XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 2017

    frames are not supported If the ethics of gamification are of interest to you, why not sign up to the Open Gamification Code of Ethics?

    Contextual Relevance in Gamification

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    People often say that “Content is King”. I have always maintained that whilst that is true, “Context is Queen”, and we all know who really wears the pants in a relationship!

    When you create gamified solutions there is often a risk and even a desire to throw the kitchen sink at the design, deciding on the mechanics you want to include well before you have any idea of what the project will actually require!

    Included in this risk is the desire to create things that have no relevance at all to the project, but look pretty! One of the biggest perpetrators of this crime is the “mini game”. Many gamification designers are, at their heart, game designers in some form or another. Our enthusiasm for games can sometimes spill over into the creation of meaningless games that do nothing to address the overall needs of the solution. Read More ...

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